Killer B's on the Way?

Three B’s in the minor Leagues

The one thing I enjoy probably more than anything is scouting minor league baseball players. There’s just something challenging about trying to figure out which one’s are prospects and which ones are suspects.

I didn’t get a lot of chances to see many games last year thanks to my all expenses paid trip to Iraq in mid-summer, but I was able to keep up with them through the Hangout thanks to the work of Scott Hoffman, John Domen, Doc Shorebird, and our two minor league reporters Mike Miller and Adam Vencill.

This year I’m looking forward to getting to many more games to see these guys for myself, but in the meantime, I get to go through and update their minor league profiles.

We’re hoping to get every player in the system done this year so you’ll be able to go into our minor league profile section and get a quick scouting report on every player in the system. It’s still a work in progress but please, if you are a plus member feel free to check out what’s done so far.

I just got done doing three different pitching prospects that start with the letter B. After doing Tim Bascom, Pedro Beato, and Brad Bergesen, and getting prepared to do Jason Berken and Zach Britton, I realized, we have a lot of pitching prospects who’s last name start with B.

Out of these “Killer B’s,” 20-year old Beato has the highest ceiling and I’m looking forward to seeing him pitch on all cylinders next season at Frederick when the Orioles will return his cutter to his arsenal. The O’s wanted him to focus on his other pitches last season at Delamrva so his stats weren’t that great, but after seeing him Aberdeen two years ago, I’ve seen his stuff and I think he may have the best chance for a breakout season in 2008.

Bascom is an interesting story because he’s still coming back from a knee injury that postponed his professional career. He’ll pitch at 23-years old so if he starts off dominating Carolina League batters, don’t be surprised to see him at Bowie by mid-season.

Bergesen is a groundball guy and hopefully his struggles at Frederick were just a bump and not his ceiling. Berken had a disappointing year overall, but the O’s still hope he’ll fulfill his promise. Britton has been brought along slowly by the Orioles but he should get his first full season load next year at Delmarva. We’ve been high on Britton so next year we hope he has a breakout season as well.

Tony Pente

Tony has owned and operated Orioles Hangout since 1996 and is well known for his knowledge of the Baltimore Orioles organization from top to bottom. He's a frequent guest on Baltimore-area sports radio stations and can be heard regularly on the 105.7 FM The Fan. His knowledge and contacts within the Orioles minor league system and the major league baseball scouting industry is unparalleled in the Baltimore media and is known as an expert on the Orioles prospects.